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Cross-functional workflows for digital projects in a small academic library: A case study
Journal of Digital Media Management,
11
(4),
368-382
(2023)
Abstract
In 2021, Union College’s Schaffer Library received a National Historical Publications and Records Commission grant from the National Archives and Records Administration to digitise and make accessible a large, and highly requested, collection of materials from one of the institution’s most famous alumni, John Bigelow. Collaborating with the department of Special Collections and Archives, the department of Content and Digital Library Systems had to quickly transform workflows for what had been mostly ad hoc projects into workflows that supported production-level scanning, metadata and digital collection output. In service to this output, a search was made for a new digital space to accommodate the size and robust description of the collection. As Union is a small liberal arts college, the project team also hired an unorthodox group of people to handle and scan the archival material: their undergraduate students. This paper introduces the backgrounds of the collection and the grant; illustrates the various work plans and workflows of the processes; and discusses challenges and opportunities encountered along the way. Brief descriptions of concurrent digital projects related to the grant are also given.
Keywords: academic libraries; archives; digital access workflows; digital collections; digitisation; metadata; special collections
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Rebecca Fried is the Digital Projects and Metadata Librarian at Union College in Schenectady, New York. She is passionate about ensuring the connection between archival material and digital systems encompasses the increasing connectivity between traditional special collections and archives staff and collections and emerging technologies. She earned her MSIS from the University at Albany, SUNY.
Amanda Greenwood is the Bigelow Project Archivist at Union College in Schenectady, New York. She earned an MSIS in archives and records administration from the University at Albany, SUNY and an ALM in English from Harvard University. She is a member of the American Archivist Editorial Board, and her writings and research interests in archival work focus on trauma and emotions; web archiving labour, sustainability and maintenance; digital projects; and archiving the COVID-19 pandemic.
Corinne Chatnik is the Digital Collections and Preservation Librarian at Union College in Schenectady, New York. She earned her MLIS from the University of Alabama. She was previously a professional archivist specialising in digital archiving and ArchivesSpace at the New York State Archives and is currently serving as the Vice-Chair of the Society of American Archivists Web Archiving Section Steering Committee.
